Rubus niveus ( Mysore raspberry, Ceylon raspberry and Hill raspberry) is a species of Rubus.
The native range of this scrambling shrub stretches from Afghanistan to central China, down to Java and Indo-China . It grows primarily in temperate regions.
Description
Rubus niveus is a
shrub growing to tall, the stems whitish,
tomentose (dense covering of short, matted hairs) at first, becoming glabrous green to purple later. The
leaf are pinnate with 5–11 leaflets (mostly 7 or 9), the leaflets long and wide, with dark green above and densely pale grey to white tomentose beneath. The
are about 1 cm diameter, with five dark pink to red petals. The
fruit is in diameter, densely grey tomentose, dark red at first, ripening black.
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Taxonomy
It is commonly known as Mysore raspberry,[ and hill raspberry.][ It is called and in native and local languages.][University of Melbourne: Sorting Rubus names]
It was first published by Carl Peter Thunberg in De Rubo: 9 in 1813.
There are 2 known varieties;
-
Rubus niveus var. micranthus
-
Rubus niveus var. niveus
Distribution
It is native to southern Asia; from Afghanistan, east through India (Assam, East Himalaya, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and West Himalaya), and across to Tibet, southern and north central China and Taiwan. Then down to Indo-China (Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam), to Malesia (in Java).[Flora of China: Rubus niveus]
It has been introduced into various countries and regions including; south America (in Bolivia, southern Brazil, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Trinidad and Tobago), United States (in the states of Florida and Hawaii), Africa (Ethiopia, Galápagos, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe) and South Africa (in the Cape Provinces, the Northern Provinces and Swaziland).
It has become naturalised and invasive species in Hawaii and the Galápagos Islands.[Pacific Island Ecosystems at Risk: Rubus niveus]
Cultivation
Rubus niveus is cultivated for its edible fruit. Rubus niveus berries have gastroprotective, antioxidant, and nutraceutical properties (Pancholi & Rana 2020).
